Tuesday, June 15, 2010

How long did the Hebrews live in Egypt? - BibelCenter [apparent] contradictions

I was recently  challenged on the point that some think that the Bible gives contradictory information about how long were Abraham's descendants in Egypt before the exodus. They ask was it 400 or 430 years? I found a great website that explains the discrepancy. It's interesting to me how if you only speak English and know nothing about life and culture in Abraham's and Moses' times there is no way you can understand what the text is saying. What I don't get is the protest that if this is the turth and the word of God that you shouldn't need to gain any special knowledge to understand it. We don't teat any other text that way. For example if you buy a new cell phone, do you really think you can use all the features on it without studying the manual? How much more do you think you need to know to fully understand a book eras removed from your experiences? Context and getting out of the text what it really says instead of what I think it says is important. We need to ask what is the author communicating? What is being said?  It's not asking those questions that lead to erroneously perceived contradictions. If am reading something in the Bible and in my opinion there is a conflict, why would I assume the bible is in error and I am not?

How long did the Hebrews live in Egypt? - BibelCenter [apparent] contradictions

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